Frontier Log

AI Lab Headquarters and Founding Years

by Zhu Liang

Of 15 AI labs Frontier Log tracks, eight are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and six in China. Five were founded in 2023.

A table of 15 AI labs by region and founding year. Bay Area: NVIDIA 1993 Santa Clara, Google 1998 Mountain View, Meta 2004 Menlo Park, OpenAI 2015 San Francisco, Anthropic 2021 San Francisco, Poolside 2023 San Francisco, xAI 2023 Palo Alto, Thinking Machines 2025 San Francisco. China: Alibaba 1999 Hangzhou, Meituan 2010 Beijing, Z.ai 2019 Beijing, MiniMax 2022 Shanghai, DeepSeek 2023 Hangzhou, Moonshot AI 2023 Beijing. France: Mistral 2023 Paris. The 2023 row is shaded.
Headquarters city and founding year for 15 of the AI labs Frontier Log tracks, from their own pages and filings, with news reports for DeepSeek and Thinking Machines. The 2023 row is the only one with labs in all three regions. Download

Of 15 AI labs Frontier Log tracks, eight have their headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, six are in China and one is in Paris. Five of the 15 were founded in 2023, more than in any other year, according to the labs' own pages and filings and, for DeepSeek and Thinking Machines, news reports.

LabHeadquartersFounded
NVIDIASanta Clara, California1993
GoogleMountain View, California1998
AlibabaHangzhou, China1999
MetaMenlo Park, California2004
MeituanBeijing, China2010
OpenAISan Francisco, California2015
Z.aiBeijing, China2019
AnthropicSan Francisco, California2021
MiniMaxShanghai, China2022
DeepSeekHangzhou, China2023
MistralParis, France2023
Moonshot AIBeijing, China2023
PoolsideSan Francisco, California2023
xAIPalo Alto, California2023
Thinking MachinesSan Francisco, California2025

Eight labs in the Bay Area

Four of the Bay Area labs are in San Francisco: OpenAI, founded in 2015, Anthropic, founded in 2021, Poolside, founded in 2023, and Thinking Machines, founded in 2025, as TechCrunch reported. The other four are further south. NVIDIA, founded in 1993, is in Santa Clara, according to its annual report. Google, founded in 1998, is in Mountain View. Meta, founded in 2004, is in Menlo Park, according to its annual report. xAI, founded in 2023, has been part of SpaceX since February 2026, and its Palo Alto office is the headquarters of SpaceX's AI operations, according to a SpaceX filing.

Six labs in three Chinese cities

Three of the Chinese labs are in Beijing: Meituan, founded in 2010, Z.ai, founded in 2019, and Moonshot AI, founded in 2023. Two are in Hangzhou: Alibaba, founded in 1999, and DeepSeek, founded in 2023, as The Guardian reported. MiniMax, founded in 2022, is in Shanghai, according to its Hong Kong filing.

Five labs founded in 2023

DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Mistral, Poolside and xAI were all founded in 2023, in five different cities. It is the only year in the table with new labs in the Bay Area, China and France. OpenAI, founded in 2015, is the oldest of the labs that began as AI companies, and Thinking Machines, founded in 2025, is the newest.

Sources

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